Method and apparatus for treating continuous lengths of textile fabric



S. COHN ETAL looooooo o ooooooo o LENGTHS OF TEXTILE FABRIC Aprl 22, 1958 Filed Feb. 24,` 1955 April 22, 195s s @HNv ETAL 2 831,233

METHOD AND APPAATUS -FOR TREATING CONTINUOUS LENGTHS OF TEXTILE FABRIC Filed Feb. 24, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 22, 1958 s. CQHN ETAL 2,831,233

RATUS FOR TREATING CONTINUOUS METHOD AND APPA LENGTHS OF TEXTILE FABRIC 3 sheets-sheet 3 Filed Feb. 24. 1955 fmjwlm 02..

United States P atenO METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING CON- TINUOUS LEN GTHS F TEX-TILE FABRIC Samuel Cohn, New York, Eugene Cohn, Great Neck, Frank Catallo, Elmont, and Joseph Cohn, New York, N. Y., assignors to Samcoe Holding Corporation, Woodside, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application February 24, 1955, Serial No. 490,232 32 Claims. (Cl. zii-18.5)

This invention relates to the treatment of textile fabric to effect a reduction in the degree to which such fabric will shrink after being made into garments or other articles which are subsequently laundered. More particularly, the invention is concerned with a method of and apparatus for carrying out such treatment on continuous lengths of textile fabric.

As is well known in the textile industry, much attention has been and is continually being given to the probleni of shrinkage; The common aim of substantially all of this industry is to produce commercial lots of fabric of such character that when employed in the manufacture of garments and other articles they will not, subsequent to the laundering thereof, shrink. The amount a fabric will shrink, when subjected to the severest laundering conditions, is known as the residual shrinkage of that fabric. It is well known that the major portion of the shrinkage in many fabricsv occurs during the drying phase of the laundering operation rather than during the washing phase. By careful drying, shrinkage can be maintained at a minimum, that is, the amount the fabric will shrink as a result of laundering will be maintained at a minimum. Laundering methods are, however, ,to a larger and larger extent, including tumble drying which may be considered and is in fact recognized by many in the industry as being at least one of the severest forms of drying from the point of view of shrinkage. This increased and increasing employment of tumble drying makes it more important than ever, therefore, to reduce the residual shrinkage in many fabrics.

Because ofthe well recognized severe shrinkage effected by tumble dryers, it has of course occurred to others that perhaps a tumble drying step, or what would fairly closely correspond thereto, should be included in the process of manufacturing salable commercial lots of fabric. rfhere have thus been several attempts at least made toward providing the manufacturer and/ or processor of fabrics in commercial lots what may be termed a preshrinking treatment involving such a step or steps. However there are numerous problems encountered in handling commercial quantities of fabric (which are preferably handled by the manufacturer and/or processor in continuous lengths) that are not present in the handling of smaller pieces of the fabric in the form of garments or vthe like. These problems resulting primarily from the necessity for handling fabric in continuous lengths and in a continuous manner, according to our knowledge, have not to the date of the present invention been satisfactorily overcome by anyone. We believe, however, that we have discovered a method of continuously treating continuous lengths of textile fabric which will, as indicated above, effect a substantial reduction in the residual shrinkage thereof, whereby when garments or other articles are made therefrom and subsequently laundered, the further shrinkage that will occur is substantially less than that which would occur under the saine vconditions had Ithe fabric not been subjected to Patented Apr. 22, 1958 our treatment, even though it were subjected to the best of other shrinkage treatments now known. y

Broadly, our invention lies in a treatment of textile fabrics (we have in mind particularly continuous lengths thereof) which comprises advancing the fabric in a substantially longitudinal direction through a treating zone and during said advance moving successive portions of the fabric forward and backward substantially continuously askthey pass through the treating zone. During or as a result of these forward and backward movements of the successive portions of the fabric in the treating zone, the fabric is agitated. Furthermore', during'l its passage through the treating zone we effect a substantial reduction in the moisture content of the fabric. ,This reduction in moisture content of the fabric may advanf tageously be accomplished by maintaining a circulation of dry air about the fabric as it passes through the treating zone. Heating of this dry air has also been found to be advantageous.

From the above broad statement of our invention, it will be clear that in order for our method'of treatment to effect the desired reduction in residual shrinkage of the textile fabrics, it must be applied to fabrics containing moisture. We have found from our experimental work, however, that no shrinkage of any real significance occurs during the drying of or reduction of the moisture content in many fabrics until the moisture content of the fabric has been reduced to at least below about 40% by weightfof the fabric and in fact, not much occurs until after the moisture content has been reduced to below about 30%. Hence we would prefer, if only from the point` of view of economy, to initiate the treatment of most fabrics when their moisture content is not more than about 40% by weight and advantageously, depending upon the type of fabric being treated, about 30%: Because of the diiculties that may be encountered in accomplishing this desire in commercial installations, our invention contemplates taking fabrics substantially free of moisture and adding a predetermined desired quantity of moisture thereto prior to the application of the aforementioned moisture-reducing step of our process. ,This can advantageously be accomplished by adding moisture thereto during the aforementioned forward and backward movement of a fabric in what might be termed the initial portion of the treating zone.

We do not wish to suggest from the preceding paragraph that it is necessary in all cases for an effective treatment in accordance with our method that a fabric need contain any specific quantity of moisture or that our method is not effective if the fabric contains a much larger amount of moisture than we now feel it necessary to effect the desired result.

ln connection with the agitation of the fabric during the movement of the successive portions thereofback# ward and forward as they pass through the treating zone, we have found that this may be accomplished ina wholly satisfactory manner by the employment of the desired, a throwing or tossing of the successive portions of the continuous length of fabric backward and forward. By proper regulation of the fabric throwing or tossing means to control the length of throw or toss of` thefabric' in either direction, the progress of the fabric through the treating zone may be fairly closely controlled,radvance resulting from so adjusting the throwing or tossing means' portions of the fabricthat they throw the successive further in a forwardly direction. altering the direction than yin ay rearwardly The speed of progress can be controlled frequency of operation of the throwing or tossing means, that'is, by altering the number of throws of the successive portions of the fabric during a particular unit of time. The speed of advance of the fabric through the treating zone is also, of course, controllable atthe same time by the adjustment of the degree of throwing or tossing froward relative to the degree of throwing or tossing rearward. We may point out here that it is of primary importance in connection with this handling of successive portions of the fabric during their advance through the treating zone that sufficient fabric be .maintained within the treating zone so that during none of the throwing or tossing is any of the fabric subjected to unnecessary stretching or distension.

y For a more detailed understanding of our invention, reference' may be had to the following more specific description of the method and apparatus thereof taken in connection with the illustration of two closely related embodiments of the apparatus thereof in the accompany- Ving drawings, in which:

yFigi is a side elevation of one embodiment illustrating the general layout thereof; `J Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the apparatus of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevation of a portion of the fabric throwing or tossing means;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating more clearly the driving means of the apparatus; Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation illustrating the driving means;

Fig. 6 is a schematic view. showing a number of successive positions of three rows of fabric throwing or tossing means illustrating one cycle of operation thereof by which a forward and rearward throwing or tossing of one portion of the fabric is accomplished; and

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a modified form of the apparatus for treating substantially dry fabric and therefore includes means for first of all applying moisture to the fabric.

The apparatus of Figs. l through 6 is intended for usc in the treatment of continuous lengths of fabric that have a substantial moisture content when received thereby, either by reason of having come from some other treating operation which leaves the moisture therein or by having been purposely wetted for the purpose of being treated by this apparatus. The fabric is fed into one end of the apparatus and advanced therethrough, having successive portions of it tossed forward and backward, the forward toss being greater to any desired degree than the rearward toss. While the fabric is being so agitated and advanced through the apparatus, it is subjected to drying' air or hot drying air as desired. The speed r of advance of the fabric through the apparatus, that is, the time elapsing between the feeding of the fabric into the apparatus and the feeding thereof from the discharge end thereof is such that the moisture content thereof will be reduced'to substantially `zero or as close thereto as is possible with the particular type of fabric employed. During this treatment of the fabric it will shrink. Hence the length of fabric discharged from the apparatus will normallybe substantially less than that fed thereto. To avoid imposing any stretching effect on the fabric while in the apparatus it is therefore essential that suicient fabric -be fed thereto to keep the fabric even at the discharge end in a-completely relaxed condition.

When the amount'of fabric fed is not sufficient to accomplish this end, the apparatus can be considered as being starved. Starving will, as previously indicated, effect an imposition of stresses on portions of the fabric that counteract the tendency to shrink, and hence must be avoided. It will be recognized also that if the degree of tossing of the fabric in the apparatus is great, that is.

if the portions tossed contain substantial amounts ofk fabric and the length of toss is long, sufficient fabric must be maintained in the machine and adjacent each tossing means to prevent localized stretching of the fabric in any manner whatever during tossing thereof. The

amount of fabric within the apparatus can be controlled for this purpose eitherby adjustment of the rate of feed of the means employed for feeding the fabric into the apparatus or by adjustment of the fabric throwing and tossing means to increase or decrease the rate of advance of the fabric through the apparatus.

It will be noted, as explained in detail below, that the modification of the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 7 includes the provision in a section of the treating zone of means for applying moisture to a continuous length of fabric to be treated. As specifically illustrated, this moisture applying means comprises a series of Steamers. As we have previously mentioned, it is contemplated that in certain instances the moisture content of fabric to be treated will not be that specifically desired for most effective and economical treatment thereof. Under these circumstances we would prefer, at least partially for the reasons of economy, to handle substantially dry fabric to which we can then add a controlled amount of moisture. This apparatus accommodates the treatment of such substantially dry fabrics.

The apparatus illustrated in Figs. l through 5 may comprise a conventional dryerY housing 10 separated substantially into two chambers by a longitudinally extending partition 11. The upper portion of partition 11 is provided with an opening extending longitudinally thereof or a series of such openings 12 through which air may be Y passed from one chamber of the housing to the other.

The lower portion of partition 11 also contains one or more longitudinally extending openings but in each of these there is mounted a heating unit or heating units 13 to heat air as it passes from one chamber to the other. One of the chambers, for example the right hand one as illustrated in Fig. 2, contains a series of fans 14 mounted so that their blades rotate in a horizontal plane. These fans are adapted to draw air from the lower portion of the right hand chamber of the housing which may be termed the fan chamber, to then pass it upwardly and through openings 12 into the left hand chamber, thence downwardly therein and through the heater openings back into the lower portion of the fan chamber. During this circulation of the air in the housing, the air picks up moisture from the fabric which is, as indicated, passed through the left hand chamber (Fig. 2), is heated and repassed into the upper portion of the fabric-drying chamber by the fan. To maintain the air that is continuously passed through the openings 12 in partition 11 for the purpose of drying the fabric passing through the fabric chamber suiciently dry so that it will pick up moisture from the fabric, moisture-saturated air may be continually removed from the fan chamber and fresh air admitted thereto by any conventional means. Such control of the humidity of air in the fan chamber is normally carried out in conventional fabric dryers.

A continuous length of fabric 16 is adapted to be fed into the fabric drying portion of the housing 10 by a feed roll 17 that may be driven by any conventional variable speed driving means (not shown).l The fabric is then dropped downwardly upon a plurality of fabric throwing ortossing means 1B, which will be described in more detail hereinbelow, by which successive portions of it are tossed forward and then backward and then forward, and so forth, and at the same time, by regulation of the amounts of toss in either direction, advanced through the apparatus. During this handling of the fabric, it is, as noted, subjected to the moisture reduction phase of the treatment. The conditions of this phase of the treatment are controlled so that when the fabric approaches the opposite or discharge end of the apparatus it is substantially completely dry, that is, free from any substantial amounts of moisture. Ideally, of course, it is completely free of moisture. The tossing means 18 discharge the fabric adjacent the discharge end of housing 10 onto a conveyor 20 by which it iscarried out of the housing and sliver-M0? snede. t9 @gushing machine- AS be noted in Fig. l, conveyor 20 extends into the housing to a point slightly rearwardly of the last fabric tossing means 18. The conveyor is preferably of an open mesh material and should of course be driven at a sufficiently slow speed relative to the speed of advance of the fabric through the apparatus to assure that no tensions will be imposed by it upon the fabric.

Turning now to the fabric throwing and tossing means, it will be noted that it comprises a plurality of sets of relatively thin arcuate members 24, each set being mounted on a shaft 2S extending between the side wall of the housing it) and the partition 11 and suitably journaled therein. All of the arcuate members mounted on one shaft are so mounted thereon as to be in alignment with each other. Furthermore, the arcuate members of alternate sets are so positioned on their respective shafts that all of those on such alternate shafts are in phase, rotationally speaking, or in other words always have their longitudinal axes parallel or in alignment, or substantially so. The arcuate members 24 on the other shafts are also all substantially in phase with each other but are substantially at right angles to the previously described arcuate members. Hence each successive set of arcuate fabricthrowing members is out of phase to the extent of substantially 90 more or less with the sets on both sides of it. Adjacent ends of all of shafts 25 have mounted thereon pairs of like sprockets 26, the sprockets of all of the pairs being of the same size with the same number of teeth. Each of shafts 2S is connected to its two neighboring shafts by suitable gear chains 27 so that when any one is rotated, all of the others are rotated a like amount and in the same direction.

Turning now specically to Figs. 4 and 5, it will be noted that the rst of drive shafts 25, that is the one most closely adjacent the inlet end of housing 10, is driven from a drive sprocket 28 through a chain 29 which extends between one of the pair of sprockets 26 on this shaft 25 and drive sprocket 28. Drive sprocket 28 is mounted on a shaft 30 mounted on a pair of journal bearings 31 and 32 which are in turn supported on a suitable framework extending laterally from housing 10. A crank arm 33 is keyed to shaft 30 and has rotatably secured to the outer end thereof one end of a connecting rod 34. The other end of connecting rod 34 is rotatably secured to the outer end of a crank arm 35, shorter than crank arm 33, which is keyed to the output shaft 36 of a gear reducer 37. Gear reducer 37 is mounted on a frame support 38 which is in turn mounted on a tubular bearing 39 rotatably carried yon shaft 30. The input shaft 40 of the gear reducer is driven by a sprocket 44 xedly secured thereto from the output shaft 42 of a motor 43 which is also mounted on rotatable frame 38. This drive is effected by the connection of sprocket 44 by a chain 41 to a sprocket 4S mounted on motor output shaft 42. The opposite iiights of chain 4i pass on opposite sides of tubular bearing 39. By this arrangement it can be seen that motor 43, when operated, effects a rocking motion of shaft 30 and therefore a rocking motion of all of the shafts 25 supporting the arcuate fabric tossing members 24. With motor 43 stationary in space, this rocking motion of the fabric tossing members will be the same in one direction as in the other and would effect a mere tossing back and forth of successive portions of the fabric without advance thereof through the drying zone. However, motor 43 is, as described, mounted for rotation about the axis of shaft 30 as are all of the parts 34 through 4S. This rotation about the axis `of shaft 30 is effected by an auxiliary variable speed motor Si) mounted on a fixed framework or on the oor by means of an interconnection by a chain 51 of a sprocket 52 tixedly secured to tubular bearing 39 and a sprocket 57 secured to the output shaft 58 of motor 50.

Turning to Fig. 5 specifically, it will be noted that a counterclockwise rotation or movement of shaft 30 efects a similar counterclockwise rotation as viewed from this direction ofarcuate fabric tossing members 24. This movement of the fabric tossing members 24 is such that it effects a tossing forward of successive portions of the fabric. A rotation or movement of shaft 30 in the opposite or clockwise direction, as seen in Fig. 5, effects the tossing rearwardly of the successive portions of the fabric. We have here spoken of a tossing motion of the fabric, but it will of course be clear that whether or not successive portions of the fabric are actually tossed will depend upon the speed of movement of the arcuate members 24 in either direction. As heretofore pointed out, if drive motor 43 is maintained stationary in a spacial sense, the forward movement of arcuate members 24 will, with the arrangement shown, be angularly the same as the rearward motion thereof. Thus the fabric will not be advanced through the apparatus. However, by driving tubular bearing 39 in a counterclockwise direction during operation of the motor 43, there will be superimposed upon each of the forward rockings of shaft 30 and arcuate members 24 a movement increasing the angular extent of such rockings, whereas there will be subtracted from each of the rearward rockings of shaft 30 and arcuate members 24 a substantially similar movement decreasing the angular extent of such rearward rockings. Hence, by varying the speed of rotation of tubular bearing 39 by varying the output speed of variable speed motor S0, the degree of movement of arcuate members 24 during forward rockings may be varied relative to the degree of movement thereof during rearward rockings. By this means the speed of progression of the fabric through the treating or drying zone may be varied.

As heretofore pointed out, this speed of advance or rate of progression of the fabric through the drying zone may also be varied by changing the frequency of the forward and rearward rockings of the arcuate fabric tossing members. These two variables that can affect the rate of progression of the fabric through the drying zone are of course interdependent.

While there are any number of ways in which power may be supplied to motor 43 that may be suitably ernployed, we mount a brush box 60 on a bracket 61 secured to and extending from framework 38. The brush box is connected to the motor by a conventional cable 62. Brush box 60 is so mounted that its brushes may contact current conducting rings 63 and 64 fixedly mounted concentrically about the end of shaft 30.

Returning now to arcuate fabric tossing members 24, there are two primary considerations governing the shapes of these members. The first is the desire to obtain the maximum tossing effect. To accomplish this, the members should be as flat, that is as rod-like, as possible. The second thing, however, that must be considered does not permit the accomplishment of this because if the members are fiat or rod-like-and by flat we mean, for example, narrow in a transverse direction as seen in Fig. 3-a scissoring effect will beY encountered that will result in jamming of the tossing means and possible tearing or cutting of the fabric. From the antiscissoring point of view, the best shape for arcuate members 24 would be circular. However, this shape would give a minimum tossing effect. As a result of a thorough investigation of these two considerations in designing arcuate member 24, we have discovered that the maximum tossing effect can be obtained without an accompanying scissoring effect if the shape of each member 24 is that shown where the arcs 24a and 24b are identical and each is one quarter of the circumference of a circle,`

or closely approximates it. The resulting shape is some what elliptical except that the end portions are consider ably sharper than would be the end portions of an ellipse having its sides of similar curvature. This sharpness of the end portions of arcuate members 24 is, however, important in that it assures a superior tossing action.

Also we prefer to serrate or otherwise roughen the edges of each of members 24 to improve their frictional contact with the fabric.

The spacing of the rows or sets of Varcuate members 24 is also of importance. Hence the supporting shafts 25 cannot be spaced apart a distance greater than the length of the radius of arcs 24a and 24h. lf they are, gaps will be formed between successive sets of tossing members 24 during the back and forth rotative movement thereof which will permit fabric 16 to fall therebetween. The limiting factor in the closeness of spacing of shafts 25 is that each arcuate member must be capable of complete rotation and hence cannot have its path of rotation unobstructed. Thus the shafts cannot be closer together than about three quarters of the length of the radius of the arc 24a or 24h. As to thickness of the arcuate members, that is their dimension in a direction axially of shafts 25, and their spacing in that direction, we now contemplate that the spacing will about equal the thickness (contact however being avoided) though for illustrative purposes substantial clearance is shown in the drawings.

As heretofore pointed out, successive rows or sets of arcuate tossing members 24 should be out of phase by about 90. This of course results in alternate sets being in phase, that is, always having, for example, their longitudinal axes parallel or in alignment.

Turning now to Fig. 7, there is illustrated an apparatus which is fdesigned specically for the treatment of fabrics that are delivered in dry or substantially dry condition. This apparatus is in all respects similar to that described above, with the exception that a portion of the housing lil at the inlet end thereof is partitioned'off by a partition 70 to form a moisture-applying or steaming chamber. One or more conventional Steamers 71 are located beneath the tossing members 24 within the moisturizing or steaming chamber. The amount of steam applied to a fabric passing through this portion of the treating zone may be carefully controlled by conventional means to effect a uniform moisturizing of the fabric to the desired degree. As heretofore mentioned, we believe that most fabric, to obtain the maximum benefit of our treatment, should contain at least about 30% by weight of moisture prior to entering the drying or'demoisturizing portion of the apparatus. The tossing of the fabric during this moisturizing portion of the treatment is of course partially responsible for the good uniformity of moisture dispersion in the fabric.

The operation of the above-described apparatus for carrying out the method of our invention is as follows. The fabric to be treated is fed to the apparatus in continuous lengths and in a substantially longitudinal direction by inlet feed roll 17. lf the fabric contains a Suthcient quantity of moisture so that it will receive an effective treatment, the apparatus may be that illustrated in Figs. l through 5. plate will be the case in many instances, the fabric to be treated is dry or substantially dry, the apparatus of Fig. 7 will be employed. The fabric is deposited, as it leaves feed roll 17, on the rst or second set of tossing means 24. These are being rotated forward and backward continually and will pick up successive portions of the fabric and impart thereto first forward and then backward motion. Depending upon the speed of movement of the tossing members and their oscillations, this movement will be more or less agitating and will effect a transverse riflling, rumpling or the like of the fabric. We contemplate a speed of movement such that actual tossings of the successive portions of the fabric forward and backward results. By having the movement of all of the tossing members in the forward direction exceed the movements thereof in the rearward direction, the successive portions of the fabric will be moved forwardly or advanced through the treating zone. During this advance or progression of the fabric it will be subjected to the warm or hot air continuously being circulated by fans 14. This If, on the other hand, as we contemr will Aeffect a reduction of the moisture content of the fabric. This reduction of the moisture content of the -fabric during agitation thereof causes the fabric to shrink, thereby reducing the residual shrinkage thereof. No substantial strains or stresses are imparted to the fabric by this handling of it that will hinder such shrinking. As will be obvious, this fabric will lose length in its passage through the apparatus, and hence particular care must be taken that as the successive portions of the fabric reach the discharge end of the apparatus, the latter is not being starvedf This can be accomplished by varying the rate of progression of the fabric effected by the forward and backward movement of the tossing members 24 by in the present device changing the speed of variable speed motor 50, or it can be effected by varying the speed of feed-in roll 17.

We have found that to get what would appear to be the most beneficial tossing action, it is desirable to maintain a considerable quantity of fabric within the apparatus; In this connection, it is far better to accumulate therein an excess than to approach the starving" condition. Reference to Fig. 6 will help to make the tossing action of the fabric that is accomplished by arcuate members 24 a little clearer. It will also help to show what we consider to be a satisfactory accumulation of fabric for maximum elhciency of treatment. The four illustrations `contained in Fig, 6 show a complete cycle and a half of forward and backward movement of three sets of tossing members a, b and c. In each illustration the tossing members are at an extreme oscillated position, the arrows thereon indicating the direction of movement the members will take in their next oscillatory movement. The movement in a forward or counterclockwise direction, as indicated, is about 75 while that in the rearward or clockwise direction is about 45, the rotational progression ofv the oscillations imparted by motor S0, therefore, being about l5".

When fabric is discharged from the last set of arcuate members 24 it is deposited on conveyor Ztl. The speed of this lconveyor is carefully controlled so as not to impose any strain on the fabric. From the conveyor the fabric will normally be delivered to a finishing machine of suitable form.

While this invention is applicable to woven as Well as knitted fabrics, we have found it of particular use in connection with the latter where heretofore the residual shrinkage problem has not been as satisfactorily met as with the former type of fabric. It is particularly useful in connection with the treatment of tubular knitted fabrics which often contain large percentages of residual shrinkage. Furthermore it is, of course, applicable to the treatment of fairly vshort as well as long lengths of fabrics and to products, e. g. garments, made of such fabrics. Hence where the term fabrics is employed generally herein, it should be understood to mean short as well as long lengths of fabrics, and pieces manufactured therefrom such as garments.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the specific embodiments of the apparatus illustrated and described without departing from the scope of our invention. For example, it will be apparent that while we have shown apparatus employing but one tier or ight of arcuate tossing members for yadvance of the fabric through the treating zone, more than one tier might be employed whereby the fabric might be passed successively substantially completely through the treating zone in opposite directions prior to discharge therefrom. Various changes may also occur to those skilled in the art in connection with the method of our invention without departing from the scope thereof. Hence our invention should be limited only to the extent set forth in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A method of treating continuous lengths of textile fabrics which comprises advancing the fabric through a treating zone, alternately moving a multiplicity of successive 'increments of said fabrics substantially forwards and backwards in the plane of travel of the whole of said length of fabric as said fabric passes through said treating zone, said movements including agitation of said successive increments, and reducing the moisture content of said fabric in said treating zone.

2-. A method "of treating continuous lengths of textile fabrics which comprises advancing the fabric through a treating zone', alternately moving a multiplicity of successive increments of said fabrics substantially forwards and backwards in the plane of travel of the whole of said length of fabric as said fabric passes through said treating zone, said movements including agitation of said successive increments, and passing dry air about said fabric during the passage of the latter through said treating zone.

3. A method according to claim 2 air is heated.

4. A method of treating continuous lengths of textile fabrics which comprises advancing the fabric through a treating zone, alternately moving a multiplicity of successive increments of said fabrics substantially forwards and `backwards in the plane of travel of the whole of said length of fabric as said fabric passes through said treating zone, applying moisture to said fabric at the entrance end of said treating zone, and subsequently reducing the moisture content of said fabric as it progresses through the remainder of said treating zone.

5. A method of treating continuous lengths of textile fabric according to claim 4 in which the moisture is applied to the fabric in the form of steam.

6. A method of treating continuous lengths of textile fabric according to claim 4 in which the moisture content of the fabric is reduced by passing hot air about said fabric.

7. A method of treating continuous lengths of textile fabric according to claim 5 in which the moisture content of the fabric is reduced by passing hot air about said fabric.

. 8. A method of treating continuous lengths of textile fabrics the moisture content of which is at least equal to by weight thereof, said method comprising advancing the fabric through a treating zone, alternately moving a multiplicity of successive increments of said fabric substantially forwards and backwards in theyplane of travel of the whole of said length of fabric as said fabric passes through said treating zone, said movements including agitation of said successive increments, and reducing the moisture content of said fabric in said treating zone. y

9. A method according to claim 8 in which substantially all of the moisture inthe fabric is removed therefrom in the treating zone.

l0. A method according to claim 8 in which the moisture content of the fabric is reduced in the treating zone by passing hot air about the fabric therein and in which the fabric is maintained in said treating zone until substantially all the moisture has been removed therefrom.

1l. A method of treating continuous lengths of moist textile fabric which comprises alternately tossing successive increments of said fabric substantially longitudinally forwards and backwards in a treating zone, controlling said tossings of the fabric so that the tossings forward are larger than the tossings rearwardly whereby the fabric is advanced through the treating zone, and reducing the moisture content of said fabric during its passage through the treating zone.

l2. A method of treating continuous lengths of textile fabric which comprises continuously feeding said fabric to a treating zone, alternately moving a multiplicity of successive increments of said fabric substantially forin which the dry v said fabric as it passes through wards and backwards in the plane of travel of the Whole of said length 'of fabric as s`a'i`d fabric passes through said treating zone, controlling said movements of the successive increments of the fabric so that the forward movements are greater than the backward movements whereby the fabric is advanced through the treating zone and reducing the moisture content of the fabric while in said treating zone.

13. A methodv according `to claim 12 in which the rate of feed of fabric into the treating zone is controlled to maintain in the treating zone an amount of fabric substantially greater in length than the total length of the plane of travel of said fabric. 1

14. Apparatus for treating continuous lengths of textile fabric which comprises a treating zone, means for feeding said fabric substantially longitudinally and continuously to said treating zone, means within said treating zone for receiving successive increments of said fabric and for alternately moving a multiplicity of lsuccessive increments of said fabric substantially forwards and backwards in the plane of travel of the vwhole of said length of fabric as said fabric passes through said treating zone, and means within said treating zone for reducing the moisture content of the fabric as it passes therethrough.

15. Apparatus for treating continuous lengths of textile fabric which comprises a treating zone, means for feeding said fabric substantially longitudinally and continuously to said treating zone, means Within said treating zone for receiving successive increments of said fabric and for alternately moving a multiplicity of successive increments of said fabric substantially forwards and backwards in the plane of travel ofthe whole of said length of fabric as said fabricpasses through said treating zone, and means for circulating drying air about said treating zone.

16. Apparatus according to claim 14 which includes means for Varying the movement of said fabric moving means.

17. Apparatus according to claim '14 which includes means for varying the feeding speed of said fabric feeding means.

iS. Apparatus for treating continuous lengths of textile fabrics which comprises a treating zone, means for advancing the'fabric through said treating zone, means for alternately moving a mulitplicity of successive increments of said fabric substantially forwards and backwards in the plane of travel of the whole of said length of fabric as said fabric passes through said treating zone, and means for reducing the moisture content of said fabric while in said treating z'one.

19. Apparatus for treating continuous lengths of textile fabricwhich comprises a treating zone, means for feeding said fabric substantially longitudinally to said treating zone, means within said treating zone for receiving successive increments of said fabric and for alternately moving a multiplicity of successive lincrements of said fabric substantially forwards and backwards in the plane of travel of the whole of said length offabric as said fabric passes through said treating zone, means for applying moisture to said fabric substantially immediately after its entrance into the treating zone, and means for reducing the moisture content of said fabric as it passes through the remainder of said treating zone.

20. Apparatus according to claim 19 in which the fabric moving means is so constructed and arranged that euch movement of the fabric forward is greater than the subsequent movement of the fabric backward whereby thc successive increments of the fabric are advanced through the treating'zone.

21. Apparatus according to claim 20 in which the moisture reducing means comprises means for passing drying air about said fabric.

.22. Apparatus for treating continuous lengths of textile fabric which comprises a treating zone, variable 11 l p z t speed means for feeding said fabric substantially longitudinally to said treating zone, means within said treating zone for receiving successive increments of said fabric and for alternately moving a multiplicity of successive increments of said fabric substantially forwards and backwards in the plane of travel of the whole of said length of fabric as said fabric passes through said treating zone, said means being so constructed and arranged that each moves the fabric farther forward than backward whereby the successive increments of the fabric are advanced through said treating zone, and means for reducing the moisture content of said fabric while in said treating zone.

23. Apparatus according to claim 22 in which said fabric receiving and moving means comprises a plurality ofrotatable tossing members spaced longitudinally of said treating zone and extending transversely thereof, alternate tossing membersbeing positioned substantially in the same rotational phases and'successive members being positioned about 90 out of phase.

' 24. Apparatus according to claim 23 in which the tossing members are symmetrical' having two opposed faces each consisting of a convex circular arc of substantially a quarter of a circle.

25. Apparatus according to claim 24 in which the axes of rotation of said tossing vmembers are spaced apart a distance not greater thanl the length Aof radius of curvature of the faces of the tossing members.

26. A method of treating continuous lengths of moist textile fabrics which comprises advancing the fabric through a treating zone, alternately moving a multiplicity of successive increments of said fabric substantially forwards and backwards in the plane of travel of the whole of said length of fabric as said fabric passes through said treating zone, said movements including agitation of said successive increments, and reducing the moisture content of said fabric in said treating zone.

27. A method of treating textile fabric which corn-l prises advancing the fabric through a treating zone, alternately moving a multiplicity of successive increments of said fabric substantially forwards and backwards in the plane o1 travel of the whole of said length of fabric as said fabric passes through said treating zone, said movements including agitation of said successive increments, and reducing the moisture content' of said fabric in said treating zone.

28. A method of treating textile fabric which comprises advancing the fabric through a treating zone, alternately moving a multiplicity of successive increments of said fabric substantially forwards and backwards in the plane of travel of the whole ofsaid length of fabric as said fabric passes through said treating zone, applying moisture to said fabric at the entrance end of said treating zone, and subsequently reducing the moisture content of said fabric as it progresses through the remainder of said treating zone.

29. A method of treating moist textile fabrics which comprises advancing the fabrics through a treating zone, alternately moving a plurality of successive increments of each fabric, or alternately moving the whole of any of said fabrics depending upon the size of the fabrics, substantially forwards and backwards in the Vplane of travel of said fabrics as they pass through said treating zone, and reducing the moisture content of the fabric during this passage through the treating zone.

30. A method according to claim 29 in' which the alternate forward movement of each successive increment of said fabric, or the alternate forward movement of the whole of any of said fabrics depending upon the size of fabrics, is greater than said alternate backward movement whereby the fabrics are advanced through the treating zone.

31. Apparatus for treating textile fabrics which comprises a treating zone, means for feeding said fabrics substantially longitudinally into said treatingzone,`means within said treating zone for receiving successive Yfabrics and for alternately moving a plurality of successiveincrements of each fabric, or alternately moving the whole of any of said fabrics depending upon the size of the fabrics, substantially forwards and backwards in the plane of travel of said fabrics as they pass through said treating zone, and means for reducing the moisture content of said fabric while .in said treating zone.

32. Apparatus for treating textile fabrics which comprises a treating zone, means for feeding said fabrics substantially longitudinally into said treating zone, means within said treating zone for receiving successive fabrics and for alternately moving a plurality of successive increments of each fabric,v or alternately moving the whole of any of said fabrics depending upon the size of the fabrics, substantially forwards and backwards in the plane of travel of said fabrics as theypass through said treating zone, said fabric receiving and moving means comprising a plurality ofv rotatable tossing members spaced longitudinally of said treating zone and extending generally transversely thereof and being so constructed and arranged that each movement of fabric forward is greater than the subsequent` movement thereof backward whereby fabric is advanced through the treating zone, and means for applying a treating uid to fabric while the latter is in the treating zone. l

l References Cited in the file of this patent UNiTED STATES PATENTS1 Redman May 2o, 1952 

